


The Ghosts of Our Past

by fourohfourerror



Category: The Umbrella Academy
Genre: AU, Agender Five, Childhood Trauma, Ghost Hunters, Ghosts, Paranormal, Paranormal Investigators
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-19
Updated: 2019-09-16
Packaged: 2020-09-07 09:40:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 4,869
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20307379
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fourohfourerror/pseuds/fourohfourerror
Summary: When Klaus managed to somehow reunite his group of friends from high school, the last thing he expected was to unearth the trauma that split them up through one final ghost hunting trip.





	1. Reunion

In one of those strange little moments of suddenly nostalgia, Klaus realized that he hadn’t spoken to his friends from high school in ages.

After high school, the six of them went their separate ways and never spoke much afterwards. Maybe it was all of the drama from senior year, or maybe it was the fact that three years simply changed people. Either way, Klaus hasn’t spoken to his best friends in a long time.

In that long time, he realized, something big had happened that none of his old friends knew. On an impulse, Klaus searched up “Umbrella Gang” in his phone to pull up the group chat and sent a quick text. He didn’t put much thought into the words, only wanting to convey his major life change and maybe start a new conversation amongst friends.

**HelloGoodbye: **Hahaha i just realized that i never told you guys that im not straight

Klaus waited thirty seconds for a response, then gave up and forgot about it. He grabbed a snack, started a new episode of show picked at random, and settled on his couch for another night of almost no sleep before work the next day. Just when he was starting to actually pay attention to the plot, a message tone snapped him out of the story.

**NegativeFive: **Hahaha I just realized that Mr. Hargreaves was an ass.

**VanYEAH:** ? 

**NegativeFive: **Sorry, thought we were talking about things that were painfully obvious in high school.

Klaus could have gotten offended by the teasing, but he just laughed it off instead. The sarcastic response was such Classic Five. It made him yearn for the good old days back in school, when their group would laugh so hard they ended up on the floor.

**HelloGoodbye: **missed you guys

**TalkAllison: **Same. We should meet up sometime.

**BigHunk:** The Diner is still open in town.

**GoDiego:** Of course you’d know that.

**TalkAllison: **boys.

**VanYEAH: **When are you guys available?

* * *

Two weeks later, the first friendly face Klaus saw when he walked into the Diner was Vanya’s. She had always been a favorite of his. Back in high school, she would trade uniform skirts for pants without invasive questions. Vanya was also one of the few people who would actually tolerate his antics.

Klaus sauntered up to the booth and slid in beside her as if he wasn’t already twenty minutes late. He smiled fondly to see that she still dressed in muted colors and simply clothes, as if wanting to meekly avoid any and all attention. The only things that had really changed were the size of the bags under her eyes that were likely from long nights of violin practice.

“Hey,” she murmured, barely audible above the others’ conversations. “It’s good to see you.”

“You too!” Klaus threw his arms around her. “It’s been waaay too long.”

Vanya nodded and then snapped her fingers as if remembering something. “Oh! Five uses they/them pronouns now, by the way.”

“Coolio!” his gaze shifted to the person on the other side of her. Five’s appearance had certainly changed more than Vanya’s. Their hair was cropped shorter and they wore clothing that looked like something other than the obnoxiously binary outfits their mother used to make them wear. The only thing that hasn’t changed was Five’s classic sardonic grin. Klaus was honestly happy to see them with relaxed posture and more free expression; it made his heart warm. Obviously, being a kid genius at MIT had done them more good than harm.

Five was halfway listening to a story by Luther about some person that was arrested for petty revenge. His appearance hadn’t changed a bit, which seemed to fit well with the fact that he was the only one who hadn’t left their small town. Klaus wondered if the man was still as close-minded before, and what his reaction to Five’s new pronouns had been. He would place good money on “confused but too awkward to say anything.”

Allison was leaning in to listen to Luther’s and brushing her long hair behind her shoulders. With her new career as an up-and-coming star, her appearance had drastically improved. She looked like a goddess and made Klaus feel like trash in comparison. Instead of being jealous, he switched his brain into silently complimenting her wardrobe and working up the energy to interrupt her and say something.

Klaus’s train of thought was halted by the scrape of metal on ceramic from in front of him. Diego was aggressively slicing through a pancake as if it has personally massacred his entire family. The poor guy likely had stress issues from dealing with criminals at his police job. “What, no syrup?” Klaus asked in order to lighten the mood, only to get a silent glare in response. 

Instead of pushing further, he raised a hand to hail a waitress. After ordering juice and waffles, he turned to the table and cleared his throat. “Hey, everyone. It’s been a while since we’ve all sat down together, hasn’t it?”

People nodded and murmured their agreement. Five sipped from their coffee contemplatively. “Yeah, I don’t think we’ve all been at the table since . . . since before . . . “ They trailed off.

“Since Ben,” Klaus said, blurting out the words before he they died in his throat. After a beat of stunned silence, he continued, “It’s okay, Ben would’ve wanted this.” Everyone nodded. They all knew that he was there in their hearts.

The group went around and one by one caught everyone up on the past three years of their lives. There were moments of laughter and moments of sympathy and funny stories and dancing around touchy subjects of the past. Three stacks of pancakes later, Klaus could sense their breakfast reunion coming to a close. He didn’t want to leave and forget about them all again, so his brain scrambled to find a way to make sure they all stayed in touch this time.

Apparently he wasn’t the only one reluctant to leave, because Diego said, “Hey, we should go ghost hunting again.”

Allison snorted. “Don’t you think we’re a little too old for that?”

“Never too old for a little fun.”

“Come on, Alli, for old times’ sake,” Klaus chimed in.

“Are any of those places still around?” Five asked. “They were so decrepit when we kids, you’d think they would have torn them down by now.”

“Most of them were,” Luther nodded. “But I know that old Driscroll’s mansion is still around.”

That place was a loaded topic. It brought up bad memories for everyone at the table, shocking the conversation to a halt. Klaus tore at his paper napkin, desperate to erase the memories flooding his brain. Finally, he said, “I think we should go.”

“Are you out of your goddamn mind?!” Five exclaimed, slamming their fifth coffee cup on the table and leaning over to peer at him from around Vanya. 

“I agree with him,” Allison said. “I think it could give us some closer. We need it.”

Vanya murmured her agreement, and Luther nodded. Klaus glanced at Diego, who also shrugged his agreement. They all turned to Five and waited for their response.

They took a swig of coffee and then sighed, pinching the bridge of their nose. “Fine. Let’s do it. Don’t come crying to me when the demons in that place drag you across the floor by your feet.”


	2. Old Driscoll’s Mansion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The beginning of Night One in the haunted mansion.

Back before Klaus was born, there once was an old, abandoned house on a secluded hill. People in town had gossip about it being haunted, and teens would often goof off there. It was the stereotypical ‘haunted spot’ of the small town.

One day, a man and his family moved into the mansion. They were an odd bunch, keeping to themselves and not showing any interest in becoming friends with the other townspeople. The kids were homeschooled and the entire family rarely left the old house, which they didn’t bother to repair much. This family was infamously known as the Dricsolls.

When the father of the family, Old Man Driscoll, passed away while Klaus was in elementary his death was the talk of the town. His wife and kids moved away, leaving behind the decrepit mansion with even more rumors of hauntings. Many people squatting there reported strange noises and an overbearing presence similar to Driscoll’s. Plenty of teens, including Klaus and his friends, explored the space.

In the silky twilight, the mansion looked exactly the same as it had just over three years before. The peeling white paint glowed almost blue and contrasted greatly with the fire of the dying sun that shown through the gaps in the trees behind the house. The doors and windows were like gaping black pits, inviting and terrifying at the same time. If Klaus had seen the landscape before him in an image, he would have expected the night to be alive with the rhythmic chants of crickets driving a sense of trepidation into the photographer’s bones. Instead, the dead silence was ten times more eerie.

Everyone else seemed to pick up on the energy of the mansion, judging by the way that they avoided looking at each other and attempted irrelevant small talk. Not only was the history of the mansion present in their minds, but their own personal history with the place weighed heavily on everyone’s shoulders. Finally, Diego broke their awkward lingering by suggested, “Why don’t we take this party inside?”

The inside of the mansion had only changed a little bit, with slightly newer graffiti, a few less floorboards, and a lot more dirt. The group wandered into the former living room and lined their bags up against the wall. After setting his satchel down by the doorway to the kitchen, Klaus sat down criss-cross-applesauce on the grimy ground. The others joined him, and soon they were all sitting in a loose circle around the room. Klaus tried to ignore how Five and Vanya left a space in between them for Ben. A nervous energy settled back down around them, like the dust they had kicked up when they entered. The only noise for about a minute was Diego gently scratching a pattern into the floorboards with his knife. “So,” Klaus finally began. “What’s the plan for tonight?”

“Braid each other’s hair and have pillow fights with the ghosts, of course,” Five deadpanned. They wiped a finger that they had been using to draw in the dust and dirt onto their shorts.

“We could try to have a seance,” Luther suggested. “Like old times.”

Allison laughed. “Like that time at Vanya’s house, when her cat scared us all half to death?” 

“He just wanted Klaus’s crackers,” Vanya said, mocking offense. 

Klaus raised a finger, adding, “Speaking of which, I brought plenty of snacks!” He leaned over to grab his satchel and dumped some Oreos, Cheese Puffs, and lollipops out onto the floor. Along with the junk food cane a pack of playing cards, which he picked up and gestured with for a moment. “I have these, in case we get bored or the ghost turns out friendly.”

Vanya’s eyes lit up. “Ooh, remember the haunted card game that we played in the Sawyer barn? We could do that again, if our seance doesn’t go well.”

“I’ll do you one better.” Diego reached over and slid a long, yellow-tan cardboard box from his backpack. Klaus’s breath skidded to a halt and caused a traffic jam in his throat when he realized what it was. His heart pounded in his ears, and he barely heard the rest of what Diego said. “A Ouija board. The same one from last time, in fact.”

“No. No, no, nope, definitely not.” Quick as a cat, Five sprang to their feet and backed towards the exit, only stopping when they were in the doorway with a hand on their backpack strap. “If you even think about it, I’m leaving.”

“Come on,” Diego teased, “you’re not scared of a little game, are you?”

“No,” Five hissed. “I’m scared of the demon that you idiots summoned with it last time. Coming back here was bad enough; the board is tempting fate.”

“Calm down,” Luther commanded. “We’re not going to use the ouija board, and we’re certainly not going to summon anything again. I think we all learned our lesson.” He flared at Diego until the latter finally put the offending item back into his backpack.

“There we go,” Allison said in her most soothing voice. “You want to come back and sit down, Five?” 

“Get rid of it,” they growled. “I don’t want it in here, especially if it’s the same one.”

“Here,” Vanya said, offering a canister of salt that she pulled from her bag. “Just salt it, it’ll be safer.” She then took Five’s arm and guided them back to the circle.

Klaus passed the salt to Diego, who reluctantly sprinkled it over his backpack. During the entire argument, he had kept quiet with his head down and shoulders hunched. The last thing that he wanted to do was stick his neck out and remind everyone of his role in the events of three years past.

“Okay,” Luther began, taking the lead once again. “How about we hold hands, focus, and just listen to see what we hear? That way we can try to get some closure with this place, like Allison suggested.”

Everyone nodded and murmured agreement before sliding towards the center of the room so they could all reach each other. They clasped hands pair by pair, some weaving fingers together and others keeping grasps loose enough to tear away. Diego was the last one to connect to the chain, turning off the flashlight before grabbing Klaus’s hand. Five and Vanya began to protest the sudden darkness, but Luther shushed them. The room fell silent.

The quiet didn’t last very long. After only a few long moments, a distant creak sounded somewhere behind and to the side of Klaus’s head. His body tensed and ears focused in that direction, only to capture the soft thud-thud-thud of what could be footsteps. The noises soon died down into a silence, but that only made his anxiety skyrocket and his stomach plummet.

The others apparently didn’t hear what Klaus did. “Allison, you wanna say it?” Luther prompted.

“Uh, sure,” she agreed, smoothing out any quaver in her voice like wrinkles in a shirt. “If anyone’s here, any spirit or entity of the past, can you please give us a sign?”

Silence passed for one beat, then two. A soft moan, like the creak of a door or a far-off person, rose above the pounding heartbeat in Klaus’s ears. His palms went slick with sweat, but Five’s grip tightened at apparently also hearing the noise. Diego simply shifted his weight as if uncomfortable and impatient. 

Allison repeated her plea. “Please, we mean you no harm. Can you give us a sign?”

With a slam, the door that Klaus heard creak open went crashing back into its place. A image of the house popped into his mind’s eye, and he realized that the noise was from the top of the stairs. A creak on the stairs a few moments later confirmed that something was coming down the stairs towards the group. Five’s hand was strangling Klaus’s, and even Diego’s palm was sweating. Everyone in the room was tense as they waited to see what would happen next.

The flashlight flickered on.

Amidst the chorus of gasps, shouts, and even screams, Diego jumped to his feet and backed away from the device. Klaus had to release Five’s hand as he was pulled up and to one side of the room. When his arm was yanked abruptly, he tripped over the flashlight and sent the room back into pitch-black darkness. Allison yelped and Luther grunted in pain as they apparently tripped over each other before Vanya managed to turn on her phone’s light.

“I told you this was a bad idea!” Five seethed, turning on Klaus. “Whatever you managed to summon last time is still here, and now it’s out to get us.”

“Five,” Allison placated. “There’s no need to turn on each other. What happened back then wasn’t entirely Klaus’s fault, and, besides, picking open past wounds isn’t going to solve the current situation.”

Klaus didn’t care that Allison was coming to his defense. He didn’t care that the others hadn’t turned on him yet, and he didn’t even see their sympathy for him. All he could see was Five’s mixture of anger and fear. His stomach felt weighed down to his toes from the mixture of fear and guilt. Dreading the past more than the strange noises, Klaus turned on his heel and sprinted into the dark. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I thought this chapter was going to be all of night one, but I was wrong. 
> 
> What happened all those years ago? Why does Five hate Klaus so much?  
Hmm, questions for another chapter.
> 
> Hope you enjoyed, leave a comment letting me know what you thought.


	3. Knock, Knock, Who’s There?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Klaus has an encounter with a ghost.

The old bedroom was dusty and creepy and dark, but it was ten times more comfortable to Klaus than the room filled with people downstairs. He had to slam his body in the door to shut it all the way before he plopped down with his knees to his chest and his back on the door. He sighed, loudly and heavily, burying his face into his ripped jeans. 

When Klaus finally looked up to run a hand through his hair, he saw a strange shadow out of the corner of his eye. It was faded and hard to make out but still a definite smudge that wasn’t supposed to exist. When Klaus turned his face to look at it, the shape disappeared until he managed to focus his eyes long and hard enough on the spot where it lingered. The sudden reality of the figure, no, person, made Klaus jump and shiver.

“Oh, um, hello there,” he stammered, standing and moving towards the center of the room. The figure kept perfect time with him, backing to the side of the room and then towards the corner by the door. Klaus was effectively trapped in the room now. “So, what’s your name?” he continued warily.

The figure was silent for a long minute. Klaus glued his eyes to the doorframe so that he could faintly see it in his periphery. It was humanoid, with a strong jawline and broad shoulders. Finally, a knock sounded from its corner of the room.

“Oh, I see, you probably can’t talk, can you?” Klaus rambled. “Should I go with yes or no questions? One knock for yes, two for no?”

_Knock._

“Oh, ok. Yes it is then.” He ran a hand through his hair, pulling at the curls on the back of his head. “So, are you a ghost or spirit or something? Once yes twice no.”

_Knock._

“Nice, dude.” Klaus wondered if ‘dude’ was the right term for the non-corporeal entity. Casting the insignificant thought aside, he wracked his brain for another question, to keep the conversation going. It felt rude to ask about its death, but the only other question Klaus had seemed to be tempting fate. Deciding that tempting fate was better than angering the ghost, he asked, “Am I in danger? Once for yes, twice for no.” 

_Knock. Knock._

Klaus let out the breath he had been holding. Relief rushed into his brain before stumbling to a halt: what if the ghost had lied? He has absolutely no way of verifying that its words were true. Nervously, Klaus glanced at the ghost before looking away again to actually see it. It was still hovering in the corner, patiently awaiting another question. “Okay, um, I think I need to go.” Klaus searched desperately for a non suspicious reason to leave. “My friends downstairs are probably worried. I’m going to leave now, if that’s ok?”

A feeling of deep sadness overwhelmed him; oddly, it didn’t feel like his own. Klaus shuffled to the door and opened it slowly. After leaving, he shut the door gently but quickly and turned to jog to the stairs. He felt reluctant to leave; the ghost had seemed friendly and innocent, not malicious. Still, he had no clue what its intentions were, or if it was in some way connected to the events of three years prior. 

When he reached the bottom of the stairs, the rest of the group swarmed him. “Where the hell have you been?!” Luther demanded.

“Did you seriously not hear us calling for you?” Allison crossed her arms and shook her head in disbelief.

“More importantly,” Vanya interjected, “Are you okay?”

Klaus shook his head and pushed through them, going back towards the front room. “This place is haunted.”

“We knew that,” Five snapped. “What happened to you?”

Klaus had already swung his backpack onto his shoulder and started for the door when they asked that question. He turned back and looked at them all, as white as a sheet. “I saw a ghost.”

_Knock._

The group was out the door in seconds.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A shorter chapter than expected, but hopefully still interesting.
> 
> How will the group deal with this development? What happened all those years ago? I guess you’ll have to keep reading to find out 😈


	4. Research

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Klaus searches for a way to convince the others to keep investigating.

After a few hours of sleep of sleep in his hotel room, Klaus went to the local library to do some research. He had approximately three hours until his friends began leaving for different parts of the country; that was all the time he had to convince them to stay in town a bit longer.

The stately information desk manned by an intimidating elderly lady. Her white hair was neatly kept in a bun over a wrinkled face with eyes that pierced through his skin over small reading glasses. “Can I help you?” Her voice creaked as she spoke.

“Why, yes, you can!” Klaus said with his sweetest smile. “I was wondering where I can find any information on the Driscoll mansion?”

“Oh, that old haunted place?” the woman asked, her face softening instantaneously with the breakthrough of a beaming smile. “Yes, in fact, I have just the thing for you! Follow me, dear.”

Klaus, stunned by the complete change in his view of her, followed silently in her footsteps. They went back into a glass-walled office and over to a filing cabinet where the woman stood on her tiptoes to reach a copy paper box. Klaus then had to swerve to avoid her as she changed direction and plopped the box on the desk that had been waiting behind him.

“You see,” the librarian began, “a young woman came here for some sort of school project researching the history of the Driscoll Mansion. She left her research with me when she disappeared; probably off to college, at her age. That would have been . . . oh, three years ago, now? I kept the stuff in case she ever came back for it, but I think it will help you nicely.”

Klaus didn’t give any indication to the jolt in his stomach when he heard that the research was from three years ago. It was probably just a coincidence, anyways. ”Lucky me, then.” 

She pulled off the lid to reveal a small stack of papers. They were copies from old newspapers and documents. “The young woman went through our microfilm archives searching for every mention of that house that she could find, going back long before the Driscolls owned the property. These are print outs of some of the notable articles she found, and you are welcome to make copiesif you would like.”

“Thank you!” Klaus said. “This helps a lot.”

“Don’t mention it,” she said. “Let me know if you need anything else, honey.”

Klaus moves his documents to a table near the information desk and began reading. Apparently, the house was constructed in the late 1920’s by a wealthy family named Katz. The woman who had been researching the house had scoured newspapers for photographs of the family and had fortunately left copies behind for Klaus to find. Mr. and Mrs. Katz were certainly wealthy, judging by their severe expressions. Their son, on the other hand, seemed to be a kind soul. David Katz had warm eyes and a bright expression that spoke of youth and joy. In the photograph from his obituary, he was in army uniform but still had a smile. A morbid part of Klaus’s brain wondered if that smile disappeared before he died in the Vietnam War. 

Despite the lively expression, the young man’s broad shoulders and square jawline left no room for doubt: David Katz was his ghost.

Klaus wasn’t sure what to do next. Sure, he found out who was haunting the Driscoll Mansion; that wouldn’t help him win back his friends. No, he needed something more definite that would convince all of them that going back was a good idea. He needed a way to banish the ghost.

“Here’s the papers,” Klaus told the librarian, sheepishly handing them back.

“Did you find what you were looking for?” He nodded. “Good! Is there anything else I can do?”

Maybe his request would seem weird, but he had a feeling that she wouldn’t ask too many questions or get too judgmental. “Can you help me find some books on getting rid of ghosts?”

With a few directions on places to look, Klaus set out on the daunting task of finding a way to banish ghosts in an hour. After reading through a stack of books, he finally had a better idea of how ghosts (theoretically) worked and how to put them to final rest. Frantically, he scrolled through his contact list while balancing the times that people were leaving with the easiest ones to convince. After three nerve-wracking rings, she answered. 

“What’s up, Klaus?”

“Hey, Allison. What if I told you that I figured out who the ghost is and how to get rid of it?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A shorter chapter because life got crazy. Its not great; I wrote it in like half an hour.  
Let me know what you think!


	5. Two Séances

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Klaus returns to speak to the ghost of David Katz.  
Meanwhile, the rest of the group begins a séance of their own.

The group had split up into three teams to completely check out the house before they sat down for their séance. Klaus insisted on going to the top floor again, despite everyone insisting that it wasn’t a good idea for him to revisit the place where he saw the ghost. Luther eventually made a deal that he could go if he and Vanya went with him.

They crept up the staircase with as much quiet as three people, including a giant, could manage. They spread out down the hall, each choosing a door to check out. “On three, open it, glance in, and close it again,” Luther instructed. He waited for the others to nod and then counted down.

Of course, Klaus promptly disobeyed him. He slid into the room, closed the door behind him, and backed into the room. Luther and Vanya apparently didn’t notice his absence, because there were no sounds from the other side of the door. As he watched, the lock flicked shut by itself.

Klaus gulped. Though his research had greatly improved his confidence in the situation, the self-turning lock wasn’t exactly helping his composure. Slowly, and pivoted on his heel to scan the room for the vague glowing shape he recognized from the night before. “Hi there, David. Or do you go by Dave?”

The figure didn’t answer.

“Oh, right, here.” Klaus swung his backpack onto the ground and yanked out a long, thin box. He plopped onto the ground in front of the ghost and began to set the Ouija board. He felt a pit in his stomach at the memory of packing it away three years prior, but Klaus pushed the past out his his mind in favor of focusing on his present situation. 

-

Of course, they had managed to loose Klaus. Vanya was mentally beating herself up about taking her eyes off of him, and she knew that Luther probably was too. Instead of panicking, she elected to take a deep breath and suggest to Luther that they meet up with the others.

Everyone else was also frustrated about Klaus’s disappearance. Allison demanded that they search the house again to find him; Five wanted to just leave him behind. Finally, they compromised to stay and continue with the séance as planned, hoping that Klaus would turn up eventually. “Uh, slight problem with that, geniuses,” Diego interjected. “Klaus had the Ouija board.”

“Good thing I thought to bring cards, then,” Five snapped, sliding a deck from out of their jacket pocket. “Vanya, can you pull up the rules?”

She did as they asked and found The Playing Card Game’s instructions. “Light the candle, salt the cards, then shuffle thoroughly,” she read, skimming the website’s paragraphs. The group hasn’t played this game in over three years, but the rules were still familiar: players felt for warm cards in answer to their questions. “Ask if there are any spirits,” Vanya instructed once the 18 cards were placed in their 6-6-6 pattern.

Five took a deep breath. “Are there any entities in the room willing to talk to us tonight?” They reached out over the cards, pausing on each one before moving on. They eventually stopped over a card in the middle and looked up to meet the eyes of everyone else in the circle. Silently, they flipped it over to reveal the seven of diamonds. 

“Maybe,” Vanya read. “Proceed with caution, and continue immediately to The Farewell if anyone feels anything unusual.” The feeling in the pit of her stomach when she turned to Ben’s empty spot for reassurance was akin to missing a step on a staircase.

After a beat of silence and apprehension, the group proceeded with their séance. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short chapter again, whoops.
> 
> If Klaus is talking to Dave... then who are the others talking to? 🤔 
> 
> (Depending on my schedule, I may have to take a brief hiatus. College applications and various projects are slowly killing me.)


End file.
